Silent Friendship
by WhoNeedsNormality
Summary: But what struck Dan the most, were the boy's beautiful, captivating icy blue eyes. Dan simply stared into them in amazement. They seemed to pierce into Dan's own brown eyes like lasers, and they simply stared at each other, without speaking or moving a muscle.


Dan sighed as he stepped outside of his house. It was mostly a relieved sigh, for his family had been keeping him occupied with chores and events all day. It had gotten a bit overwhelming, so Dan had felt that he deserved some alone time, to sketch - his favorite activity. The 16 year old boy was grateful that his parents had allowed him to go down to his favorite spot at the local park, as long as he was back by dinner. (repetitive)

The British teenager checked his watch. _It's about 5:00. Dinner doesn't start until about 6:30 or so. I have about an hour and a half. _He smiled as the cool autumn breeze blew through his hair. As much as he enjoyed spending time on the Internet, Dan also loved to draw. He just loved heading down to his own special spot in the park and being able to draw whatever he saw, or whatever came to mind. And he loved being outside while doing it, especially on cool days like this one.

Dan strolled through the streets of London, hands in his pockets, and a satchel on his back containing an energy bar, a water bottle (even though it was fall, Dan always seemed to get quite thirsty while drawing) and of course, his sketchbook and art tools. His prized possessions. Dan didn't meet anyone's eyes, as he was quite socially awkward. He just wanted to get away from all these people and get to his special spot so he could revel in the calm, quiet atmosphere.

He finally got there. He entered the familiar city park smiling slightly. He remembered playing on the playground as a small boy. He watched the children playing on the equipment, although he was sure not to look creepy doing it. Then, he eagerly headed down to his favorite spot. He smiled wider when it came into view. He went into the small space, and then sat down once inside.

It was lovely. Dan had first discovered it about a year before. He didn't know who had made it, or even if it was manmade. He couldn't tell. But either way, it was beautiful. It was sort of like a small garden, small enough so that it wasn't overwhelming, and it could he kept hidden, but large enough for Dan to stretch out and place all his art utensils in front of him for easy access. He did just that. He wanted to get started right away, but unfortunately for him, his muse had left him. The teen knew what that meant; he'd have to sit there until inspiration came to him once again.

_Bloody hell, I hate artist's block,_ he thought, frustrated.

He decided to gaze towards the horizon. It was where he always looked when he needed guidance, or inspiration. It was a small opening in the garden, not the entrance Dan crawled through, but another one. Looking through it, Dan could see a lakeside view, and above the water, he could see the sun in its afternoon position, not all the way up in the sky, but not setting either. Dan gazed in awe at the sight.

He sighed. Although the sight was, as always, beautiful, it didn't seem to give him any inspiration that day. One could only stare at a lakeside view and get artistic ideas so many times. He groaned in frustration, and turned his head back to stare once more at his sketchbook. However, as he turned his head away from the horizon, something caught his eye. He whipped his head back around to where he'd seen it, and a flash of icy blue caught his eye before disappearing. Dan couldn't quite make out what it was, but it seemed to be a human, as he could tell from the split second he'd seen it.

Dan shifted his eyebrows. He wanted to know what had been spying on him, and whether or not it had been a human or animal. He decided to pretend to go back to sketching, hoping whatever it was would peek its head back through the bushes.

So Dan turned his attention back to his sketchbook and moved his pencil around pretending to draw, although he really wasn't. He also kept an eye on where he'd seen that...thing. And sure enough, the thing peeked its head back through the bushes, staring at Dan with curiosity. Dan smiled. His plan had worked. Slowly, he moved his head upwards, making sure to make no sudden moves. The creature at first began to move away again, but then stopped. It simply stayed put, and gazed at Dan in fear but also wonder.

And Dan gazed back.

It was, in fact, a human. A human male to be specific. He actually looked to be a boy about Dan's age. His skin was pretty pale, contrasting his shaggy ebony hair that hung down around his face. His clothes were tattered and worn, giving Dan the impression that he was either homeless or a feral human. But what struck Dan the most, were the boy's beautiful, captivating icy blue eyes. Dan simply stared into them in amazement. They seemed to pierce into Dan's own brown eyes like lasers, and they simply stared at each other, without speaking or moving a muscle.

When Dan finally stopped staring, he realized he'd been holding his breath, and began to slowly let it out. The mysterious boy kept staring at him, his previous fearful expression replaced with curiosity. Dan suddenly felt very scared. Not as if he thought the boy would hurt him, as he seemed rather timid. He just felt...nervous. Shy, even. He was also curious, though. What was this boy doing here? Did he have a home? What...was his name?

Dan nervously raised his hand, as slowly as he could. The other boy tensed up a bit, but this time he stood his ground instead of turning to run. Dan swallowed, and then, body slightly shaking, he said, calmly, but loud enough for the boy to hear, "H-Hi...I'm Dan." He inwardly facepalmed, he never could seem to speak to anyone without stuttering. But on the outside, he remained calm, hoping for the boy to reply.

He didn't reply.

The mysterious, ebony haired boy only continued to stare at Dan. As if he had no intention of speaking at all. Almost as if he didn't want to.

Dan wondered if the boy could talk. If he was a feral human, there was a chance he had never learned to speak. But Dan was a bit skeptical about a strange feral boy suddenly appearing in a local London park, even if it was in a private area.

Dan decided to try again. "What's...your name?" he asked. He sighed in relief when he didn't stutter that time.

And again, the other boy didn't answer.

Dan tried one last time. "Can...can you talk?"

The boy, for the third time, didn't answer. He didn't even attempt to answer, or give a signal that he understood Dan. He only continued staring at him, with the same curious, innocent expression. His beautiful blue eyes once again captivated Dan, and in a second, the British teen knew what he had to do. He didn't want to take advantage of the other boy, but he knew, at that moment, he had found inspiration.

He slowly reached for his sketchbook, his pencil and three colored pencils - one ebony, one faint peach, and one icy blue. He had a great variety of colors, but those three were the ones he needed to use. He made sure to make slow, calm movements, so as not to scare the boy.

And once he was ready, he got to work.

It was difficult to keep an eye on the boy and sketch at the same time, but Dan had to make sure that he wouldn't run away. Because if he did, there was a chance Dan wouldn't ever see him again. He'd probably run anyway, but Dan needed to get a sketch of him before he did.

So he worked quickly, and efficiently, looking up at the boy, and then back down at his sketchbook as his left hand moved swiftly across the paper, creating lines and shapes that were well drawn, but not nearly as perfect as the real thing...

Despite the fact his rough sketch didn't do much justice to the mysterious, lovely boy sitting feet away, the teen continued, determined to get a sketch of the boy's entire face. He also made sure to keep his eye on the boy while doing so. After about 10 minutes, he looked up and was surprised to see that the boy had moved a lot closer, and had actually moved past the bushes. He was now only about five feet from Dan, who smiled. He was really lucky to be able to observe his specimen so close. He continued working, being sure not to scare the boy who kept coming closer and closer.

Dan's pencil flowed seamlessly until he got to the most difficult part - the eyes. He had them all sketched out, but the next part, adding eye color and expression, was the most important part, in Dan's opinion. It determined the emotion that the sketch would give to a viewer.

Dan looked up and took a break for the first time in 15 minutes, to take a proper look at the boy's eyes.

The boy was now only about three feet away from Dan, and Dan could barely breathe.

The boy stared straight at him, without any fear at all. They gazed yet again into each others' eyes, Dan getting lost in the beautiful blue orbs. He eventually broke away to try to draw the eyes, but they never seemed to come out right. No matter the curve of the eyebrows, Dan could never get the right expression. No matter the shading, the color wasn't nearly as real as the piercing blue eyes of the boy staring at him.

Finally, Dan gave up. He wanted to work harder, to make the eyes perfect, but he knew that he couldn't. Not then, anyways. He'd have to wait...he decided to give the sketch some final touches, and then colored in the full thing. The ebony hair, the pale skin and even the brown, tattered clothing. He then slowly turned his sketchbook around to face the boy.

"What do you think?" Dan asked shyly.

The boy didn't respond, of course, but to Dan's delight, his lips curved ever so slightly upward into a smile.

"You like it..." Dan whispered in amazement.

He wanted to know so much more about this boy. Wanted to ask him questions, figure out if he was homeless or feral, to find out his name...oh how Dan wished to know the beautiful boy's name.

_Then again, he probably doesn't have a name..._

But as much as Dan wanted to find out all that, he couldn't. The boy just couldn't seem to speak. And Dan was okay with that. He found it fascinating that the boy didn't even seem to want to speak. He didn't seem to yearn for communication. He just simply stared at Dan. He had been staring at him for nearly half an hour, and hadn't tired of him yet.

No one had ever stared at Dan so long before. And he was honored that someone with such amazingly beautiful eyes would be the first to do so.

As the teen gazed into the icy blue orbs of beauty and mystery, he began slowly moving closer to the boy. Out of pure curiosity, but also longing, the boy also leaned closer. Their faces were now inches apart, and Dan could feel the other boy's hot breath on his cheek.

No sketch would ever compare to that moment.

However, all perfect moments must end.

A soccer ball suddenly flew over the top of the bushes and into the garden, bouncing around. This was followed by a cry of, "Sorry!"

Almost immediately, the boy turned around, and, not looking back once at Dan, he jumped through the bushes and ran as fast as he could, not running like a human, but not like an animal either...

He was definitely feral.

"Hey, come back!"

Dan's mind then adjusted to the realization that the most incredible moment of his life was over. He sighed. He still had that sketch, and the memories. But it wouldn't be the same.

He stood up slowly, and grabbed the soccer ball from its spot a few feet away on the ground. He jumped up and shot it back over the bushes. He heard footsteps running to go get the ball, as another, new voice yelled, "Hey, thanks, whoever threw that over!"

"No problem!" Dan called back.

He was a bit worried now, that they'd found out about his secret place and would come into it. It was Dan's special place, where he went to be alone, and sketch. And now it might not be his anymore...he was also disappointed, that he'd been so close to the boy, and that damned soccer ball had to ruin it.

Dan decided he hated soccer.

He waited about 10 minutes until he knew the kids had left, and then gathered up his materials, and stood up, swinging his satchel over his back and then, before he left his special place, he looked back at the bushes, hoping he'd see the face of the boy with the piercing blue eyes again.

But he didn't.

So he simply sighed, and turned to leave the park and go home.

He figured he'd never see that mysterious boy again...he stared at that sketch he'd drawn every night before bed, memorizing every detail. But after a while, the boy became nothing more than a distant memory, a simple snap of the fingers in Dan's mind that was filled to the brim with many memories, some boring, and some exciting. But even as the memory of that day faded away, the piercing, blue eyes of that boy, the endless blue orbs of beauty, stayed fresh in his mind. It had become a part of him.

_To be continued..._


End file.
